Drew Brees: 3rd down the most critical stat in Broncos loss

Following the Broncos drubbing of the Saints, I spoke to QB Drew Brees for our "Monday Morning Quarterback" interview.

Drew agreed that getting just 1 of 12 on 3rd down attempts is an area he would point to in the loss.

"That's the most critical stat, when you're talking about possessing the ball, keeping drives alive...and we didn't do that," he said. "I think we're #2 in the NFL, close to 50%. There's no reason we shouldn't be one of the top teams in the NFL week to week, on 3rd downs. "

Brees said the offense does feel partly responsible for not being able to sustain drives and giving the Broncos so many chances to get back on the field.

"Absolutely, I think we still have to take a hard look at offensively, how we can help the bigger picture and be more complimentary to our defense. Yeah, scoring on big plays is great, and we're not going to apologize for that," Brees said. "And we talked about it...their offense is good, and we're going to try to keep them off the field as much as possible, keep our defense rested, and convert those third downs, and sustain drives...but we hit a dry spell mid-way through the game."

There is no doubt in my mind that the defense, of lack thereof, is the single biggest reason for the really poor
season we are having. It seems to me that the defensive problems include Spags. Can we honestly blame it all on the
lack of talent among the players? Surely, there are at least a fair percentage of players who belong in the league, and if that is correct, then the defensive coordinator may not be using the personnel to the team's best advantage.
Now,the offense's shortcomings showing up yesterday, and never being that bad since before SDSS, (that's Since Drew, Since Sean). Drew can't do it all, nor can our great receivers. Now, the running back position is weak, mainly because of saddling our running game with Mark Ingram. This young man simply can't cut it. MAYBE someday he will be able to do so, but he's been given lots of opportunity and simply has not responded. I heard one of yesterday's announcers say that Drew calls him "The Hammer". I respect Drew's expertise and intelligence, but am at a loss to understand why he would say that.
A small piece of solving the Saint's defensive problems might be to trade Ingram for some defensive help before his value diminishes even more than it already has. Surely Ivory and even Cadet could outdo Ingram easily!
Elliott Vincent

10/29/2012 2:48PM

Really bad defense, slipping offense!!!

There is no doubt in my mind that the defense, of lack thereof, is the single biggest reason for the really poor season we are having. It seems to me that the defensive problems include Spags. Can we honestly blame it all on the lack of talent among the players? Surely, there are at least a fair percentage of players who belong in the league, and if that is correct, then the defensive coordinator may not be using the personnel to the team's best advantage. Now,the offense's shortcomings showing up yesterday, and never being that bad since before SDSS, (that's Since Drew, Since Sean). Drew can't do it all, nor can our great receivers. Of course, the running back position is weak, mainly because of saddling our running game with Mark Ingram. This young man simply can't cut it. MAYBE someday he will be able to do so, but he's been given lots of opportunity and simply has not responded. I heard one of yesterday's announcers say that Drew calls him "The Hammer". I respect Drew's expertise and intelligence, but am at a loss to understand why he would say that. A small piece of solving the Saint's defensive problems might be to trade Ingram for some defensive help before his value diminishes even more than it already has. Surely Ivory and even Cadet could outdo Ingram easily! Elliott Vincent

10/29/2012 4:21PM

Dry Spell???

Dry spell in the 3rd Q? Dry spell started with the first series- 3 and out.

10/30/2012 4:31PM

saints horrible defense

fire spags and blitz more.

10/30/2012 4:34PM

the worst defense in nfl history

fire the entire defense and start over

11/01/2012 11:47AM

Headline next Tuesday Morning: Vick redeems himself and has a record day passing and running!

I hate to say it, but unless Drew leads the offense to 40 points, this will be another Saints loss. The defense cannot improve unless they magically obtain 9 new playmakers today and have them on the field Sunday.Lofton and maybe Cameron J. may be legit for keeping on the field. Maybe....